Pakistan Charges Several Lawmakers from Imran Khan's Party

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Facts

  • Several leaders and lawmakers from former Prime Minister Imran Khan's party were charged with terrorism offenses on Wednesday after being arrested in raids across the Pakistani capital of Islamabad late on Monday.[1][2]
  • On Tuesday, a police spokesperson stated that four people were arrested. However, Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party claimed the number was actually as high as 13. They mentioned that officials were taken into custody from different locations across the capital, including some who were arrested outside parliament.[1]
  • The arrests came a day after thousands of protesters, in support of Khan, who has been imprisoned on dozens of charges that critics and his party say are politically motivated, held a rally in the outskirts of Islamabad to demand his release. The rally was mostly peaceful, but there were reports of some clashes with the police.[3]
  • However, during fiery speeches, several PTI leaders threatened to march on Lahore if Khan was not released in two weeks.[4]
  • On Tuesday, PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan was released from prison, while several party leaders were remanded to custody for eight days. The terrorism charges against them include attempted murder, assault, rioting, as well as unlawful assembly and causing injury to public servants.[5]
  • Meanwhile, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, speaker of Pakistan's National Assembly, on Tuesday suspended five security officials, including the country's Sergeant-at-Arms, for four months. This suspension is pending an investigation into the arrest of PTI members on the parliament's grounds, which is outlawed in the country.[6]

Sources: [1]Al Jazeera, [2]Reuters, [3]Associated Press, [4]Independent, [5]DAWN.COM (a) and [6]DAWN.COM (b).

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by News. While it was right that the leaders of Khan's PTI party were taken into custody for inciting violence, they should not have been arrested on the parliament's grounds. Two wrongs don't make a right. Therefore, an investigation is ongoing to prevent this situation from happening again.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by DAWN.COM. This is a dark turn for Pakistan's already repressive government. Yes, PTI leaders may have gone overboard in their statements. But none of these tensions would have flared up if the government hadn't persecuted Khan on spurious charges before seeking to criminalize his party.

Predictions